Lay Health Workers for End-of-Life Talks in Advanced Cancer

August 2, 2018

(Medscape) – Patients with advanced cancer may be more comfortable discussing their treatment goals and care preferences with a trained nonclinical worker, authors of a new study conclude. They found that compared with patients who received usual care, those who spoke with a lay healthcare worker about their personal goals for care were more likely to talk with their oncologist about their preferences, reported higher satisfaction with their care, had higher rates of hospice use, had lower acute care use, and had lower total healthcare costs in the last month of life.